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Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Times
Stephanie Shirley at 91: ‘I think I've got a couple more big trips left in me'
Dame Stephanie Shirley, 91, is a tech pioneer and philanthropist who came to Britain on the Kindertransport in 1939. She built a £3 billion business, Freelance Programmers (later renamed F International), and 70 of her staff became millionaires due to its shared ownership structure. Since retiring in 1993 she has donated more than £70 million to charity. She was made a dame in 2000 and became one of the prestigious few members of the Order of Companions of Honour in 2017. I suppose the most significant trip I've ever taken was the two-and-a-half day rail and boat journey on the Kindertransport. In 1939, my older sister, Renate, and I travelled from Vienna to London alongside a thousand other tearful Jewish children, with our train tickets around our necks. My German Jewish father lost his job as a judge after Hitler took power, so we moved from Dortmund to Austria but had to get out fast after the Anschluss [the Nazi takeover of Austria]. So that trip to England, my first real travel experience, made a huge difference to my life. On arrival in England I was fostered by a wonderful couple in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, Guy and Ruby Smith, whom I called Uncle and Auntie. I spent the next few years with them. Yes, it was wartime, but we had a lovely bucket-and-spade-holiday in Blackpool when I was aged six. Some of my happiest holiday memories are of going camping in a punt on the Upper Thames with my late husband, Derek [who died in 2021, aged 97], during our courting days. We'd hire it for the weekend and use a great big pole to go down the Thames, stopping off along the route in places such as Maidenhead and Marlow. Each night we would pull up a canvas structure to give us privacy, sleeping with blankets over us in the punt. But we were so close to the water that I'd often wake up to see a water rat squinting at me. After marrying in 1959 we honeymooned at a rather swanky hotel, Great Fosters in Egham, Surrey, staying in a room with a four-poster bed. But we had to check out earlier than we'd planned to because we were short of money. Following the birth of our only son, Giles, we had a wonderful summer holiday in Tenby, in Wales, when he was little. But he was profoundly disabled and that made travelling with him difficult from the age of two or three [Giles died aged 35]. A day out was a major achievement — and the one holiday Derek and I took without him, a cruise around the Canary Islands, was a disaster because he was so upset at being left in the hands of carers. We never did that again. As my business grew bigger and more successful in the 1970s and 1980s and we opened subsidiaries overseas, I began to go on work trips to places like Amsterdam (such a beautiful city), and Lucerne in Switzerland, as well as further afield. Given Giles's health issues, and the fact that Derek was not a particularly keen overseas traveller, I started tacking mini-holidays on to those work trips. • 16 of the best hotels in Vienna At one point in the 1980s I was travelling to San Francisco four times a year for board meetings, though I'd fly out a day or two early so I could visit an art gallery and dine out. I had a favourite business class seat on the plane, as well as a favourite room — 215, a corner room with windows on two sides — at the Marriott on Union Square, which became a home from home. The holidays that were most memorable were the most unexpected. For instance, walking around the awe-inspiring Uluru in central Australia, snorkelling off the Great Barrier Reef (tourism was much less developed there when I first visited) and going on a safari in Zimbabwe. Those experiences were just so different to my everyday life. • Best hotels in San Francisco Have I been back to Germany and Austria? Being a judge and a German-speaker, my father — by then in the US Army — was called upon to assist the Allied authorities at the Nuremberg trials. So I visited him there in 1946, and got to see a few of the Nazi defendants in the dock, though it wasn't exactly a holiday. Both my birth parents thankfully survived the Second World War but I never really bonded with them again, so I stayed in England. I've also since returned to Vienna a couple of times, on work and leisure trips, and on one trip saw my old childhood home. It's quite a romantic city, particularly if you love classical music as I do (there's often music in the air), though I obviously felt mixed emotions my first time back there. Over the past half-dozen years I've used a buggy service to cover long distances in airports, and been joined by my long-time personal assistant, Lynn, a wonderful companion, on my travels. We've visited everywhere. In Edinburgh's airport departure lounge I got talking to the comedian Eddie Izzard, who was wearing a dress, on our return flight to Heathrow. He was great fun and we struck up quite a rapport. When I was younger, and even during middle age, I was never really conscious of getting jet lag, but it creeps up on you as you get older. These days I need to remember my medications when I travel too. I think I've got a couple more big trips left in me, however, and would love to revisit Japan because the only part I've seen is Tokyo. Just so long as I have a companion to keep me company. Let It Go by Dame Stephanie Shirley & Richard Askwith (Penguin £10.99). To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members In our weekly My Hols interview, famous faces — from the worlds of film, sport, politics, and more — share their travel stories from childhood to the present day. Read more My Hols interviews here.
The Irish Sun
24-05-2025
- The Irish Sun
Find idyllic mountain chalets, chic spas with knockout views and total bliss in the Austrian Alps
GLIDING through the water towards the majestic mountain range ahead of me, I feel more serene than I have in yonks. I'm swimming above clusters of fluffy clouds in a jaw-dropping infinity pool, with the Advertisement 5 You'll have mountains of fun at Priesteregg Credit: Priesteregg Premium ECO Resort 5 Fly high on the zipwire with stunning backdrops Just over an hour's drive from With just 18 chalets perched at 3,600ft high, owners Huwi and Renate are keen to keep this place exclusive. Those with megabucks book the super-high-end pads with private pools or swimming lakes, so often we're the only guests at the chic spa, where the saunas and treatment rooms come with yet more knockout views. And bathe… Our rustic Berg chalet sleeps five and is home to a hot tub, sauna, monsoon shower and freestanding bath. Advertisement Read More on Travel There's a huge TV above the reclining day bed for us to snuggle on come evening. 5 Cosycore vibes at the chalet Credit: Priesteregg Premium ECO Resort And each morning, much to the delight of Poppy, six, and Raffy, three, 'breakfast fairies' sneak in downstairs to lay out a wondrous, candle-lit spread of local, organic goodies. They return later to tidy up, too! One day, we follow a forest trail even higher up the mountain past the yoga platforms nestled among the towering pines, before hopping on the resort's electric mountain bikes (with a trailer for the kids), to explore the undulating countryside. Advertisement Arriving home to a basket of home-made cake each afternoon is yet another treat. Most read in Family Stays at Priesteregg include Saalfelden-Leogang lift passes too, so we drive 10 minutes to the Asitzbahn gondola where, once up the mountain, my husband Andy faces one of the world's longest and fastest ziplines, flying Superman-style at 130kph across the valley. Rides cost from £48 per person ( Martin Lewis gives travel advice about checking your passport The kids, meanwhile, join a free bread-making class, tackle obstacle courses and decorate wooden balls, £2 each, for brilliant ball runs down the mountainside. Advertisement When Andy returns, we all have a giggle on a musical toboggan, which sets off chimes as we fly through checkpoints, £3.50 per ride ( Hat stuff The mouth-watering Hat Dinner in the picture-perfect garden of Priesteregg's eatery, Huwi's Alm, proves a must. We sizzle strips of beef and pork on a metal hat, which has a brim filled with beef broth and veg, plus there are sides of potatoes, sauces and salad, £27 per person. 5 Grub's up at Huwi's Alm Advertisement I satisfy my pudding stomach with sweet dumplings and boozy plums, £10, and sip a Hugo cocktail, £6.50, as the sun sets. One evening, we order succulent pork and cheese escalopes in a tomato and basil sauce with taglioni, £21 per person, to our chalet. Another night, Huwi and Renate host a complimentary family-style supper for guests by a pond. Freshly caught trout is barbecued over hot coals and served up with an array of sides and crisp white wine. Advertisement The air is soon full of chatter and, as the night draws to a close, we wander back beneath the star-studded sky to our chalet – ice-cream cones in hand, giant smiles plastered across our faces. If I could bottle the feeling of contentment Priesteregg gave me, I would. I'd really love to have a breakfast fairy every morning, too… FYI B&B stays cost from £117 per person per night ( Car hire costs from £45 a day ( Return UK flights to Salzburg cost from £68. 5 Lifestyle Editor Catherine Bennion-Pedley in Leogang Credit: Supplied by Catherine Bennion-Pedley
The Sun
24-05-2025
- The Sun
Find idyllic mountain chalets, chic spas with knockout views and total bliss in the Austrian Alps
GLIDING through the water towards the majestic mountain range ahead of me, I feel more serene than I have in yonks. I'm swimming above clusters of fluffy clouds in a jaw-dropping infinity pool, with the Austrian Alps as my backdrop, and I never want to leave. 5 5 Just over an hour's drive from Salzburg, Priesteregg Premium Eco Resort is a much-needed escape in the ever-stressful rollercoaster of life. With just 18 chalets perched at 3,600ft high, owners Huwi and Renate are keen to keep this place exclusive. Those with megabucks book the super-high-end pads with private pools or swimming lakes, so often we're the only guests at the chic spa, where the saunas and treatment rooms come with yet more knockout views. And bathe… Our rustic Berg chalet sleeps five and is home to a hot tub, sauna, monsoon shower and freestanding bath. There's a huge TV above the reclining day bed for us to snuggle on come evening. 5 And each morning, much to the delight of Poppy, six, and Raffy, three, 'breakfast fairies' sneak in downstairs to lay out a wondrous, candle-lit spread of local, organic goodies. They return later to tidy up, too! One day, we follow a forest trail even higher up the mountain past the yoga platforms nestled among the towering pines, before hopping on the resort's electric mountain bikes (with a trailer for the kids), to explore the undulating countryside. Arriving home to a basket of home-made cake each afternoon is yet another treat. Stays at Priesteregg include Saalfelden-Leogang lift passes too, so we drive 10 minutes to the Asitzbahn gondola where, once up the mountain, my husband Andy faces one of the world's longest and fastest ziplines, flying Superman-style at 130kph across the valley. Rides cost from £48 per person ( Martin Lewis gives travel advice about checking your passport The kids, meanwhile, join a free bread-making class, tackle obstacle courses and decorate wooden balls, £2 each, for brilliant ball runs down the mountainside. When Andy returns, we all have a giggle on a musical toboggan, which sets off chimes as we fly through checkpoints, £3.50 per ride ( before we head back for a refreshing dip in Priesteregg's second pool – a natural one surrounded by lush grass. Hat stuff The mouth-watering Hat Dinner in the picture-perfect garden of Priesteregg's eatery, Huwi's Alm, proves a must. We sizzle strips of beef and pork on a metal hat, which has a brim filled with beef broth and veg, plus there are sides of potatoes, sauces and salad, £27 per person. 5 I satisfy my pudding stomach with sweet dumplings and boozy plums, £10, and sip a Hugo cocktail, £6.50, as the sun sets. One evening, we order succulent pork and cheese escalopes in a tomato and basil sauce with taglioni, £21 per person, to our chalet. Another night, Huwi and Renate host a complimentary family-style supper for guests by a pond. Freshly caught trout is barbecued over hot coals and served up with an array of sides and crisp white wine. The air is soon full of chatter and, as the night draws to a close, we wander back beneath the star-studded sky to our chalet – ice-cream cones in hand, giant smiles plastered across our faces. If I could bottle the feeling of contentment Priesteregg gave me, I would. I'd really love to have a breakfast fairy every morning, too… 5
